‘Sexual harassment’: Aurat Foundation employee suspended
NGO assures of justice in spirit of commitment to women's rights.
ISLAMABAD:
Foundation suspended a senior staff member over allegation of sexual harassment of a female colleague and directed him to respond to the accusation within seven days.
The NGO announced on Friday that complete information will be shared with everyone about the proceedings of the inquiry and assured, in a statement, that justice will be done in the spirit of commitment to women’s rights and in accordance with law.
This was the second incident of sexual harassment in the office of the 25-year-old women’s rights organisation.
On May 17, a female intern made a verbal complaint in front of senior management at its Islamabad office about the misbehavior of a senior male colleague. She requested that her workstation be shifted somewhere else.
The management conducted a preliminary inquiry on May 18 and decided that the complaint fell within the scope and definition of sexual harassment under the ‘Protection of Women against Harassment at the Workplace Act, 2010’.
In a press release, Aurat Foundation said it constituted an organisational inquiry committee at the national level as soon as the workplace harassment law came into force in 2010. The senior management decided to immediately hand over the matter to the inquiry committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2011.
Foundation suspended a senior staff member over allegation of sexual harassment of a female colleague and directed him to respond to the accusation within seven days.
The NGO announced on Friday that complete information will be shared with everyone about the proceedings of the inquiry and assured, in a statement, that justice will be done in the spirit of commitment to women’s rights and in accordance with law.
This was the second incident of sexual harassment in the office of the 25-year-old women’s rights organisation.
On May 17, a female intern made a verbal complaint in front of senior management at its Islamabad office about the misbehavior of a senior male colleague. She requested that her workstation be shifted somewhere else.
The management conducted a preliminary inquiry on May 18 and decided that the complaint fell within the scope and definition of sexual harassment under the ‘Protection of Women against Harassment at the Workplace Act, 2010’.
In a press release, Aurat Foundation said it constituted an organisational inquiry committee at the national level as soon as the workplace harassment law came into force in 2010. The senior management decided to immediately hand over the matter to the inquiry committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2011.